1825623 (Refugee)

The applicant, a citizen of Fiji, sought review of a decision by the Minister to refuse to grant a protection visa. The applicant's application for review was lodged with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) on 3 September 2018.

The central legal issue before the AAT was whether it had jurisdiction to consider the applicant's application for review, given the date on which it was lodged.

The AAT Member, Rodger Shanahan, determined that the application for review was not made in accordance with the relevant legislative timeframes. Consequently, the AAT lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The Member found that because the application was received by the Tribunal after the prescribed time, it was invalid.

The Tribunal therefore made no order in relation to the merits of the protection visa application, as it had no jurisdiction to do so.